Project Lead: Shaan Knan
Email: lok@gires.org.uk
Website: A Legacy of Kindness (LoK) [opens in new tab]
This project will research, document, showcase and share the rich history of the UK transgender and gender diverse charity GIRES.
Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, the project will capture the voices of trans and gender diverse people and their supporters and interpret them in a heritage context. We will uncover the memories through generations of past, present and new members; trans activists and pioneers, who helped to establish the charity. GIRES was established in 1997 when Bernard Reed, OBE, and Terry Reed, OBE helped their transgender daughter win a landmark sex discrimination case. The charity has been instrumental in several positive changes to trans rights in the UK.
To deliver this project, GIRES will collaborate with a wide range of local and national organisations including archives and community groups, including Bishopsgate Archive, Mermaids, Stonewall, and LGBT+ History Month.
The project will provide opportunities for a wide range of people to participate end engage. Calls for participation will commence later this this month, with the project scheduled to be completed by July 2023.
Commenting on the award, Cat Burton (she/her), GIRES Chair of Trustees, said: “We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players, and are confident the project will create a lasting legacy that will help educate and empower British society and the next generation, so that transgender heritage can be celebrated.”
A Legacy of Kindness Press Release_Final 20220216
